Churches must be courageous and open to change. But sometimes, amid all the pulse-taking, evaluations, strategy planning and critiquing, we forget to love the church we have.
A case against the ‘Christian’ adjective
What does it really mean when we call something “Christian?”
Bouncing Into Graceland: Paul Simon, Frank Tupper, Southern Seminary and a ‘Scandalous Providence’
Frank Tupper’s view of providence is unflinchingly honest. We survive our personal Gethsemanes, not because we experience miraculous rescue, but because we are not alone: “Jesus has already gone through Gethsemane, a Gethsemane that we will never comprehend, and he stands with us in ours.”
‘Broken Churches, Broken Nation’: Yes, Pastor Jeffress, words do ‘mean something’
If words really do “mean something,” as Robert Jeffress asserted, correctly, then the rhetoric of “civil war,” “treason” or “coup” used by president, pastor or any of us is not only divisive but dangerous.
Andrew Yang’s case for a universal basic income echoes Baptist voices of the past
Perhaps the idea of a universal basic income is not as farfetched as it may seem. Whether from voices from the past, our congregational polity or the biblical text, the Baptist tradition offers resources for thinking deeply about such a proposal.
Carrie Newcomer, Christian kindness and making room at the table for everyone
It’s time to turn our personal kindness into political kindness, to turn love into policy, to speak truth and to be the people God calls us to be, in person and in policy.
As a progressive pastor, I take my stands. Boycotting Chick-fil-A isn’t one of them
If Chick-fil-A is going to continue to serve this liberal Baptist pastor from around the corner, I don’t see that drinking their tea and building relationships with their staff is making me unfaithful to my convictions.
Robert Jeffress and I view a rainbow – and read Genesis – differently
It’s true, God promises not to destroy the earth by flood. God did not, however, promise to stop US from destroying the earth.
Franklin Graham: the apple that fell far from the tree
As I see it, Franklin Graham is far from the man his father was. In conspicuous ways, he is still like the angry, impatient and entitled 11-year-old I met in the summer of 1964.
‘Righteous anger’ is the wrong motivation for the work of God’s justice
For many progressive Christians, young and old, righteous anger has become our pièce de résistance. But anger, no matter how righteous, puts our spirit in the wrong position.
Jesus, ‘Trumpism’ and nationalism: the fake news of a Christian America
The surest way to trash the gospel is to invoke God’s holy name to propagate a partisan political agenda that has nothing to do with the spiritual wisdom of Jesus and everything to do with political privilege and power.
A ‘heretic’ returns to a formative place that once was home – the campus of Southern Seminary
I wanted to view a display that chronicled the founding, theological drift, depths of heresy and resurgence of the seminary as interpreted by the current administration. Apparently, I figured prominently in the tableau as exemplar of the HEResy that required my dismissal.